For Oklahoma, schedule options could cut turnover, costs

For the state Office of Juvenile Affairs, 420 out of 1,058 employees participated in a 90-day trial program that let them chose from three work schedules. Employees at juvenile detention facilities, where turnover is the highest, weren’t eligible to participate. The options and results:

• Four 10-hour days with every Friday off (chosen by 22 percent of participants).

• Nine-hour days with every other Friday off (chosen by about 18 percent of participants).

• A traditional eight-hour-day, five-day-week schedule (chosen by 60 percent of participants).

Source: Jeff Gifford, division director

for the support services division at the Office of Juvenile Affairs